At this time of year, I find it a good thing to address our faithful readers - the year round residents in this town - who are sometimes miffed at the fact that we reprint articles. (This is a reminder I touch upon more or less regularly.)
Although we realize that these folks are the backbone of Vallarta's foreign community, the ones who support the local economy all year round including during the "low" seasons, the Vallarta Tribune was conceived as - and continues to be - a publication whose primary market is made up of foreign tourists. By this I mean those visitors who come to our town for one or two weeks of fun and relaxation. Many of them want to find out all they can about Puerto Vallarta while they're here, what we can offer them in terms of entertainment, food, culture, etc., what we (foreign residents) are like, how we function here, and so on. That's probably why the "Letters to the Editor" section is so popular. And although we foreigners, expatriates, whatever you choose to call us, who live here think we already know all there is to know about PV, these tourists don't and that is why we reprint articles dealing with topics of general interest. Like what? Well, like those dealing with national and sometimes international holidays, those that deal with the multitude of topics particular and specific to the Bay of Banderas area and those that deal with typically Mexican subjects, like chocolate... for example.
Consequently, dear resident readers, please bear with us. We'll try our best to offer you as much "fresh" reading material as possible every week. But do remember our visitors, they are the reason why Puerto Vallarta has grown so much over the last decade, and, if we look at all those high-rise condo buildings whose units are being bought up like hot cakes, it looks as if many of those visitors are going to end up like you and me: permanent residents.
Okay, I'd like to get back to more mundane things that we know all about - but tourists don't. I'd like to explain something about the telephone system here, for those who don't understand why there may be a whole list of telephone numbers appearing in ads, on people's business cards, on billboards, etc. - all for the same person or establishment. The reason is very simple: Telefonos de Mexico (a.k.a.: TelMex - my all time favorite company…) has not implemented, at least not for mere mortals living and trying to do business in Puerto Vallarta, a system whereby one could have a single phone number, with an endless amount of additional lines on a "trip" system like those that exist in other countries. Example: If a company in Canada or the States has one main number and numerous additional lines with which to service their clients, when the first X lines are busy, the next incoming call is automatically transferred ("tripped") to their next available line. Some local hotels do have this system, but that requires a great deal of money here, plus additional installations with special telephone systems. The average restaurant or individual wouldn't even consider such expenses. Just getting a single telephone line here is a most arduous and time-consuming affair, an exercise in saintly patience. One of our readers in Las Juntas had to wait one year to get her line installed. Another large enterprise in town, hoping to shame the ruling telecommunications company into doing something, resorted to publishing a huge ad in the local papers asking TelMex why they were still waiting for a line X months after making their request! Yes, eventually they both got "connected". A landlord/landlady wanting to rent out an apartment with a telephone line can expect to receive a higher rent for it than if it did not have one. Telephone lines are sold here, from one person to another. And they are also rented out, i.e.: if a tenant managed to have a telephone line installed in his apartment during his rental period, and then vacates the apartment at the end of the lease without "taking" the phone line with him, the landlord will often have the line brought in to another unit whose tenant has expressed the wish to "rent" it. All this is also the main reason why you may be surprised at the number of people walking around with cellular phones. They're not trying to impress anyone, most of them are on TelMex' "waiting list", waiting for a regular phone...
Well, believe it or not, I finally made it to Louise and Luc Mullins’ now famous breakfasts (brunch in my case) at Mama Dolores’ Diner. Our friend Gary Beck’s review of the place is somewhere else in this issue. True, he’s been in the restaurant business for years and knows all about the industry, but from a regular customer’s point of view, let me tell you: those folks deserve the great reputation they’ve earned! Despite the fact that nothing on the menu is over $58. pesos, our little group of seven ended up waddling out of there, satiated to the proverbial gills! The chocolates we picked up at Xocodiva went home with us to be savored at a later time…
It was the week for Mama Dolores. I was invited to “her” birthday party on the 20th, at Bench and Bar (formerly known as The Palm). It was to be Canadian-born Kim ‘s last performance this season, and all of Grant’s friends were there, including Len (of the famous blu by Len beauty salon) who got up on stage not only to fix Kim’s hair when she appeared dressed as Mama’s “cousin”, but also to dance! Boy, can he move! To summarize: the place was full, the entertainment was super, and everyone had a fabulous evening.
By the way, I’ve heard that June will be the last month for Ida Slapter in Vallarta. If you’ve never caught “her” show this past season, do make sure you see it before “she” leaves us to pursue her career in San Francisco. You will laugh yourself silly. She performs at the Bench and Bar, just a couple of doors down from Mama’s place.That’s all for now, folks. Have a super week, share your good fortune with the less fortunate …and don’t forget to slather on that sun block! Hasta Luego! pvmom04@yahoo.com
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